# 6 months later! finally: no tongue burn!



## KinnScience (Mar 11, 2009)

I'm about as happy as a boar in a... well, I'm pretty happy!

I have started smoking my pipe regular again and I have no tongue burn!

For those of you who followed my disaster over the Spring/Summer, I had gotten a fierce case of tongue burn from going literally crazy on pipes/tobaccos. I could not get enough and as a result of wanting to taste it all .. too fast, and trying to burn some of my full bents down to the ash without any dottle, I burned the heck out of the middle of my tongue.

It would simply NOT heal. I'd stop smoking for a week .. then two weeks ... but as soon as I started smoking again .... yup .... burn back. At one point I figured, the hell with it ... I'm going to ignore the burn .. and puff away. Well, that lasted about a week .... then all of a sudden, I lit up my Savinelli Herc one night .. and got a blast of what tasted like burned black toast. .. along with a horrible burning sensation. Yuck.

Ok, so I began smoking cigars for a bit ... then finally switched to cigarettes now and then ... sometimes dipped a bit of skoal.(had not smoked those since my Freshman yr) occasionally I'd pick up my pipe, but alas I had been scarred. At the first sign of trouble ... I'd hang it up for a couple weeks. I ended up gaining about 30 lbs during this time, cuz I ate ice cream (another weakness of mine.. apple ice cream) every time I craved a pipe.

Anyway, I got my pipes all dusted off about two weeks ago and have been puffing away again. three bowls a day minimum. I am having no problems and am in pipe heaven again.

Two things I would like to pass onto new smokers. 

I had to really learn to "sip" (yup .. everyone told me .. but I finally got it) instead of "pull" the smoke into my mouth area

I also learned that I could not constantly pull the smoke across the middle of my tongue like a train trying to puff up a mountain side. I learned to "sip"/"pull" the smoke back onto the sides of my tongue and cheek. And when trying to light a stubborn Dottle, drop a few bits of fresh tobacco on top ... and take short quick puffs .. and above all make sure there is plenty of room for the smoke to gather so as not to draw too much steam across the middle of my tongue.

This all makes perfect sense to me, as the middle of one's tongue (where the crease cuts the tongue in half) is more vulnerable to things like heat. It is a very sensitive area. 

I am now enjoying my pipes with "all" my taste buds .... even burley (which really burned me)... and I love burley's nutty flavor.


Good to be back,

Science


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## bkeske (Oct 28, 2009)

I know what you mean. I picked up the pipe again after 25+ years this past October, smoking cigarettes since that time.

Man, a cigarette smoker trying to replace a his habit with a pipe is a tough transition. The tongue bite I developed in that first moth was terrible. I could not even taste my food. Much of this was also chemical burn I think as every time I picked up a bowl of latikia tobacco, my favorite, the burn was back with a vengeance. I finally went to Squadron Leader, FVF, and other less latikia blends to help that situation out for a few days. Interesting enough, I'm now smoking my Balkan Supreme constantly again, and the chemical burn, and my negative reaction to latikia is pretty much gone. Thank goodness.

But....my biggest change was my technique(s). I'm not sure I did it as consciously as much as it was getting used to smoking a pipe again over the deep draw of a cigarette. Sipping or 'breathing' the tobacco into the mouth finally became the habit....cooler pipes as a result as well. I also realized that I was packing my bowl terrible (too lightly actually), which was compounding the problem.

Took some time, but it is finally coming back to me, and my tobacco, food, etc. are all tasting much better....and I'm enjoying latikia based tobacco's again.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

'bout ****in' time. Welcome back!


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## Hendu3270 (Jan 23, 2009)

Glad you got it figured out. Had some burn when I started as well and it pretty much blows when you want to sit down with a pipe but you can't because your tongue is already fried. I'm happy to be past those days as well.


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## slyder (Mar 17, 2009)

Yeah it took me a few months but mine doesnt burn anymore. It must have turned into a thick hunk of leather cause i fried the hell out of it everyday for about a month.


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## Royale Duke (Aug 14, 2009)

I think I only ever experienced true tongue burn once and I simply stopped ALL smoking for about a week and then I was fine... except for the large piles of bloody carcasses behind me after not smoking that long.

I turn into a cranky werebeast when I don't get my nicotine!


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